What working fish have you bought?

[Petcrazyson]

My tank is still young. Only been up since May.

It’s still very young. Wouldn’t add a sand sifter goby yet. Wouldn’t be wise or fair on the fish poor thing would starve. Be patient and wait a few more months. They need a very mature sand bed to not starve. If you want something to stir the sand bed you can get sand sifting starfish or some inverts along the lines of that for now.

 

[bnord]

I’ve had sixlines in every tank over 17 years, I’ve never seen a flat worm. My diamond watchman goby keeps my sand crystal clear though I do get some ever changing sand scape.

Tale of two wrasses.. my first 6 line in a 40 cube had to be re-homed to LFS as it was a wrathful wrasse
second one in a 180 community mixed reef barely quits hunting around the corals at feeding time
knock on wood, I don’t know what a nudibranch looks like

 

[sfin52]

Ornate leapord wrasse pest control
Black spot foxface for bubble algea and turf algea but it has a wide and diverse pallet makes it extremely valuable for algea control
Yellow eyed kole tang for algea.

 

[Dave-T]

Haha I think that is common ailment among lawnmower blenny.

I have a lawnmower blenny in my frag tank to eat algae. I’ve had him 3 months and I’ve never fed him. So I suspect there is some algae eating going on. Also a tailspot blenny in there. Also unfed.

 

[CoralB]

Tuxedo urchin , yellow coris wrasse , foxface rabbit , yelloweye kole tang ,

 

[Jase4224]

Purple tang, pacific sailfin tang and fox face are great for keeping algae down in larger tanks.

 

[Mr Cypher]

yellow tang and gem tang for the algie control and believe it or not my 2 oreni tile fish turn over my sand bed like no one's business better than any snail or conch I've had love those guys

 

[leon.1980]

I haven’t really seen anyone say anything about critters used to turn over their sandbeds.
I have a diamond goby and about 10 or so na Serius nails for keeping the same bed clean and stirred up so far. I would like to add a starfish that isn’t going to devastate the microfauna within the sand bed but will still turn it over. What would you guys recommend me looking into?

 

[i cant think]

I haven’t really seen anyone say anything about critters used to turn over their sandbeds.
I have a diamond goby and about 10 or so na Serius nails for keeping the same bed clean and stirred up so far. I would like to add a starfish that isn’t going to devastate the microfauna within the sand bed but will still turn it over. What would you guys recommend me looking into?

I recommend looking into the Ophioderma genus. These are generally reef safe (Avoiding the ‘Green Death’ stars). I have an Ophioderma appressum in my 3’ SPS tank and all it does is scavenge the left over food with my urchin and fireshrimp.

 

[vlangel]

I haven’t really seen anyone say anything about critters used to turn over their sandbeds.
I have a diamond goby and about 10 or so na Serius nails for keeping the same bed clean and stirred up so far. I would like to add a starfish that isn’t going to devastate the microfauna within the sand bed but will still turn it over. What would you guys recommend me looking into?

I have a common Atlantic cucumber for my sand and a chiton for the rock. I have had this cucumber before and it did not decimate the micro-life in the sandbed. This is my first chiton and I don't know how effective it will be with the rock work.

 

[homer1475]

I have a common Atlantic cucumber for my sand and a chiton for the rock. I have had this cucumber before and it did not decimate the micro-life in the sandbed. This is my first chiton and I don't know how effective it will be with the rock work.

Chitons are absolute bulldozers! They eat everything on the rock, back down to white rock. You can often find them just by looking for a white trail on your rocks. Little known fact, they have the hardest natural substance known to man for teeth. They can leave bite marks in glass tanks, and certainly not recommended for acrylic tanks. I love them and have had them in every tank I've owned. I find them to be a hidden secret weapon in any CUC, and one not many people suggest.

Nearly every one of my fish serve a purpose.

Most of my wrasses are pest hunters. Yellow corris, black leopard, ornate leopard, and moyers leopard.

Starry blenny, algae eater
blue eye kole, algae eater

 

[vlangel]

Chitons are absolute bulldozers! They eat everything on the rock, back down to white rock. You can often find them just by looking for a white trail on your rocks. Little known fact, they have the hardest natural substance known to man for teeth. They can leave bite marks in glass tanks, and certainly not recommended for acrylic tanks. I love them and have had them in every tank I've owned. I find them to be a hidden secret weapon in any CUC, and one not many people suggest.

Nearly every one of my fish serve a purpose.

Most of my wrasses are pest hunters. Yellow corris, black leopard, ornate leopard, and moyers leopard.

Starry blenny, algae eater
blue eye kole, algae eater

Thanks for sharing your experience with the chiton. How big is your tank and how much rock do you have. My tank is a 56 gallon with a lot of rock. I am hoping enough to keep the chiton well fed.

 

[attica38]

Six line wrasse. The nasty pest mercenary. Love that guy. Also bought a lawnmower blenny, but I think he’s allergic to algae.

I think my lawnmower blenny is the same! LOL

 

[homer1475]

Thanks for sharing your experience with the chiton. How big is your tank and how much rock do you have. My tank is a 56 gallon with a lot of rock. I am hoping enough to keep the chiton well fed.

80g cube. with roughly 80 pounds of rock.

 

[vlangel]

80g cube. with roughly 80 pounds of rock.

Ok, my tank has a lot of rock as I have my rock built up to use some of the vertical space in my tall tank. Thanks, that helps me feel better about providing enough environmental support for the chiton. It was a bigger creature than I had anticipated when it arrived.

 

[gcarcher59]

Apparently my tangs are all confused as to what they should be doing. None of them pick at algea on my rock. Have an Adult Chevron, Gem and I just added a Powder Blue. The Powder Blue does pic at the rock so maybe the two other dimwits will get the message.

Hey I have a question. How was it adding the Powder Blue with the existing tangs? I have a 165g full of corals and a purple tang, swallowtail angle, naso, sailfin tang that have been in for a year. The Powder Blue is a little larger than the ones i have so hoping i wont have a big battle. Please let me know your thoughts. Thx Greg